Windows 64 bit

[pat_smith1969]

Has anyone tried to get sage running on Windows XP 64 bit? I am thinking of upgrading my server hardware and when I rebuild it I was thinking of trying out a 64 bit os.

What yall think?

[Thomas Wischgol]

I tried to use XP 64bit for my HTPC almost a year ago. I was discouraged by the non-availability of many drivers back then. I would expect Sage to work just fine but you want to make sure that you get 64bit drivers for all your hardware, mainly graphics card (NVidia has 64bit drivers available for example) and all your tuner cards.

Thomas

[bcjenkins]

The only problem I ran into was lack of remote control driver. Everything else was covered.

B

[Thraxius]

I haven't tried but wanted to go to a 64 bit Windows. I pretty much have been waiting until Vista. Then found out Vista is way to expensive. I am now thinking of going to a linux type system because 300 dollars for Windows you have to be kidding me.

[scoful]

I tried XP64 about a year ago and couldn't get the Hauppauge drivers to work. Hauppauge tech support insisted they worked, but tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver and OS to no avail.

[wvpolekat]

I think the #1 thing to consider before making this leap is "Why?"

That's not to be sarcastic. But, unless you are running 64 bit apps and making use of more than 4 gig of RAM, 64 bit does not bring much to the table at this point.

Sage will be run in 32 bit emulation, and drivers are shaky at best.

[FidgetyRat]

Originally Posted by wvpolekat

I think the #1 thing to consider before making this leap is "Why?"

Well, that is simple! Its because the processor companies have convinced the world that 64 bit is BETTER AND MORE POWERFUL!.. Same applies to multi-core processors!.


They fail to mention the actual functionality of said components, the added bugs/risks of SMP and the lack of software support

[wvpolekat]

SMP does have benefits. Even in 32 bit. Software such as Sage may not utilize it directly, but having more processors/cores to spread processes and threads across does help.

I have a server in the basement that has 8 700 mhz Xeons in it. While 700 mhz doesn't sound very fast anymore, for certain tasks, it will smoke even a modern multi ghz CPU. Currently, I run it as a VMWare server with 12 virtual machines on it. Trying to even run 4 virtual machines on my dual 1.3 ghz Xeon server makes it literally unusable.

While 64 bit has lots of benefits, they are only realized when you are 100% native 64 bit and not doing any emulation. So, when Sage, Java, etc all come out with pure native x64 builds, it will be worth looking into 64 bit. Until then, I would reccomend staying with a 32 bit OS and apps to avoid any possible issues. Right now, it's another layer to troubleshoot and one that is not well understood.

[pat_smith1969]

I had figured that Sage could use one core and comskip and other processes could use the other (as the balancing alogorithem dictates).

I will go with 32 bit I think, it was just a passing thought to go with 64 bit. I looked and found some of the 64 bit drivers but didnt think of the fact that Sage was only 32 bit. You are right... no point in going 64 bit yet.

I WOULD try out a Linux server but the silly way Sage does it's licens means I would have to buy a whole new copy of Sage, and I don't want to learn Linux THAT bad.

[FidgetyRat]

Originally Posted by pat_smith1969

I WOULD try out a Linux server but the silly way Sage does it's licens means I would have to buy a whole new copy of Sage, and I don't want to learn Linux THAT bad.

I agree with you whole heartedly on this aspect. There should be no difference in licensing the same product on a different OS. I would love to try the linux distro but am not willing to shell out the extra money on a product I already own.

[wvpolekat]

I have mixed feelings about Linux.

Don't get me wrong, I love Linux and feel like Sage is a very good application for it.

At the same time, you better be pretty well versed in multimedia on Linux to get alot of the same things accomplished on it that you can easily do on Windows like comskip.

Then there is the problem with updates. Don't think that linux is immune to getting broken by updates. Some library that Sage needs gets updated and the whole thing gets hosed or some such thing.

I would still like to try it.